Loose Lips Sink Ships

Published October 10th, 2007

According to University of Florida Sophomore Shyamal Patel, she has checked her Facebook account approximately twice a day, everyday for the past two years, but she will only post the most general of facts about her life on her profile page.

"One of my friends put her address on her Facebook with her apartment number," she recalled. "And if you have a boy that really likes you, but you don't like him back, he knows where you live."

Professor of New Media Journalism David Carlson warned the potential harm does not stop with personal information, even posting photos or videos can have consequences.

"You have a picture of yourself and three of your friends looking obviously very drunk at a bar or whatever, those are not the kinds of things that you want potential employers and maybe not even your parents to see," he warned.

After L.S.U. fans got a hold of Gator quarterback Tim Tebow's phone number, one On-line rumor stated the number was found on Tebow's Facebook page. Tebow denied this claim; he said he never posted his number On-line.

Even if that is just another rumor, Carlson said it could still serve as a good reminder for people about the potential dangers of posting personal information on the World Wide Web.

"Everyone needs to be aware that what they put on the internet is potentially available to the entire world," he said.

Patel agreed, she said she will never make that mistake.

"I've known many people who have made the mistake of putting their phone number on it, but usually repercussions occur," she said.